Rosetta Probe Orbits Comet

NEW YORK – Talk about playing hard to get -- the European Space Agency's Rosetta Probe has arrived at a comet following a 10-year chase. The probe was originally launched in March 2004 and a 220-pound landing device will descend on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (C-G) in November.

European Space Agency's Rosetta Probe. (Source: ESA)

Named after the Rosetta Stone, the engraved block instrumental in deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphics, scientists are hoping the C-G comet will provide provide answers to the makeup of the universe. Comets are frozen leftovers from the formation of the solar system, scientists say, and thus may contain valuable clues to Earth's origin.

Rosetta and its lander, Philae, will make observations through 2015 as the comet approaches the sun. C-G will still be 115 million miles from the sun at that time, and outside the orbit of Earth.

Electronics in space is completely different. Ten yeas ago, I visited General Dynamics in Scotsdale and wrote an article called "There's no place like space." One thing you wouldn't expect is that in space, electronics can get very hot.

Hot? But isn't space very cold?

Yes, but there's no air to carry away heat from electronics and thus you need large heat sinks. That's especially true when the electronics are facing the sun.

So what to I remember about that trip? I went to a Diamondbacks game where I thanked the person in the team store for sending Curt Schilling to Boston. Six months later, the Curse of the Bambino was broken.

Two cups a second seems like a lot to me, even on a large surface! Apparently that amount could fill an olympic-sized swimming pool in short order.

You bring up an interesting point about condensation on electronics - I hadn't thought about that - but I imagine if they designed the lander for an icy surface with ash-like or snow-like particles, it could probably handle a bit of condensation.

Two cups a second seems like a lot to me, even on a large surface! Apparently that amount could fill an olympic-sized swimming pool in short order.

You bring up an interesting point about condensation on electronics - I hadn't thought about that - but I imagine if they designed the lander for an icy surface with ash-like or snow-like particles, it could probably handle a bit of condensation.

@Susan...two cups a second on something 2 miles long is almost nothing. They say it will get to a few thousand times that....still not a lot over that size, though I guess if you got condensation on the electronics it might cause problems. I read somewhere that the tail of a comet is still better than most vacuums on earth...anyone with more knowledge care to comment?

Wow. This is very exciting and will be an amazing feat. I wonder if the probe can stay latched on when the comet gets closer to the sun. I was wondering out loud to a space buff / amateur astronomer about how the electronics can withstand all the water vapor from the comet. He said "how does a submarine work....they have ways to protect the electronics." It would be interesting to know how they took the vapor into account during design and what will happen with this whole project. I can't wait. (Geez, it's our first comet cam?)

Nice article Jessica. I always lament how little has happened on the moon since Apollo, but stories like this show how much is going on in space.

On projects that take this long I wonder if the designers wish thay had today's technology once the probe gets to its destination. That said, the old technology does amazingly well - look at the Pioneers and Voyagers.